Turkey’s not just for Christmas

Earlier this year, the readers of Condé Nast Traveller magazine voted for their preferred holiday destination in the publication’s annual Readers’ Travel Awards and two new favourites came out on top.

2010 has been a bumper year for tourism Turkey and Egypt which scooped first and second place respectively. Next came Australia (3), winner of the “best climate” category overall, with foodie favourite Italy (4) and eco-conscious New Zealand (5) also in the top five.

Votes spanned a number of categories including range of accommodation, value for money, food and restaurants, climate, people/hospitality, culture and environmental friendliness.

With readers awarding “percentage of satisfaction” marks out of a possible 10, Turkey was tops for its range of accommodation (86.48) and value for money (87.20); Italy (88.93) and Spain (85.73) got best marks for food/restaurants, closely followed by South Africa (84.48). Australia was the clear winner for best climate (96.56) while readers felt India offers the warmest welcome (94.44). Egypt scored highest for culture (88.03) and New Zealand – renowned for its clean living and sustainable tourism – topped the list for environmental friendliness (86.12).